LEDs poised to brighten our lives – Part 2

The search for other materials to vary colours, simplicity of manufacture and lower operating voltages and currents goes on. Yttriuum aluminium garnet is one example of a substance being used to give white light output.

Almost every day, there is an announcement from somewhere in the world that LEDs have become just that much brighter, longer lasting or require even less power than before. As global warming provides the stimulus for faster research, so manufacturers are hotting up their research to be the first with a breakthrough.

In Taiwan, where research and production work hand in hand, there is stimulus and encouragement. Some companies that started life in different but associated areas are now at the leading edge of R&D and manufacture. Taiwan Oasis, for example, is a case in point. Originally it was a plastics moulder and injector but has diversified into all sections of the LED production chain.

Dies and wafer, PCB and plastic parts, design and tooling with assembly and packaging are now its major in-house activity. It has also developed a seven-segment (numeric) and a 14-segment (alphanumeric) LED display as one of its latest products.

The company was one of the first to establish a manufacturing plant in China. The value and emphasis it places on R&D is illustrated by the more than 30 engineers employed in this section alone.

A company that specialised in ultra-thin devices is Everlight Electronics. Its co6 range is a 4.5 by 3 by 2.2 mm thick LED whose colours are red, blue, green and white. With an under 350 mA driver, red, blue and green lights are rated at 40, 15 and 16 lumens. White output reaches 60 lumens.

High-intensity LEDs are more in demand than ever as designers and architects turn away from fluorescent, tungsten and halogen downlights in favour of these devices.

Huey Jann Electronics has specialised in LEDs for more than 20 years. Its current range goes from 0.5 to 100 W with red 625, yellow 590, blue 470 nm and white, warm white, various colours and RGB full colour.

The advantages of these devices continue the demand for low power, low heat emission, small size and increasingly bright light output.

Another company in the high output arena in Shin Chin Industrial that has launched an LED work lamp that uses four 1 W devices.

Indoor/outdoor displays are becoming more common from sporting events to roadside advertising or information. Taiwan Oasis specialises in these large displays.

Street lighting is one of the promising areas of LED design that could potentially save a huge amount of electricity. Acuwe Tec encases 60, 120 and 180 W lights that can be mains driven and used in public areas.

Novelty lighting in the form of a ‘crystal globe’ has been produced by Cindi Enterprises. Using six LEDs, it consumes 25 W and although each light produces just 360 lumens, it is still brighter than a 20 W halogen lamp.

While the focus of LED development is on brighter and brighter using less power for a given output, with most of this centred on area lighting, other uses such as television are also being developed at a frantic pace.

So, from torches to lounge lighting, from traffic lights to motor vehicle lights, street lights to airport lights and into the myriad of indicator lamps used in almost every piece of electronic equipment, the LED has emerged as a technology spurred on by need. Maybe it is not too far-fetched to suggest that the humble LED could save the world from overheating.

Taiwan Trade Centre, Sydney